The heat generated by electronic components/assemblies during operation must be removed to prevent overheating and failure. Many methods exist to achieve this such as conduction, natural convection, forced convection, and radiation. Heat removal devices used specifically for electronic cooling include fans, heat sinks, thermo-electric coolers, phase change materials, liquids, etc. Two opposing trends are making the cooling problem more difficult. First, the increase in performance of electronics components/assemblies has resulted in an increase in the amount of heat generated. Second, the demand for additional electronic functionality in either the same physical size or a smaller size has resulted in less available space for heat removal devices.
One common cooling scheme consists of a heat sink located within an electronics enclosure, mounted separately from any particular electronics board, that conducts heat away from a series of components or electronics modules, usually with the assistance of one or more fans. Another common scheme is placing a heat sink directly on top of an electronic component. These common cooling schemes require a larger electronic assembly in order to accommodate additional heat transfer devices. In cases where heat removal is not directed at a specific component, the cooling capacity of the overall system must be increased, thereby increasing the cost and decreasing the efficiency of the cooling system.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for an apparatus and method of providing cooling to electronic components that overcome the deficiencies of the prior art outlined above.